The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany held four-way talks over the crisis in the east of the country.

President Poroshenko won approval from the National Security and Defense Council to invite UN-mandated peacekeepers into the country to monitor the frontline.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Churkin said the call for peacekeepers made by President Poroshenko was aimed at destroying the Minsk accords.

A Ukrainian military spokesman said more than 90 percent of its forces have been withdrawn from Debaltseve and its surroundings.

The British Royal Air Force scrambled warplanes to intercept two Russian bombers off the coast of Cornwall, as Defense Minister Fallon said Russian President Putin poses a “real and present danger” to Baltic countries.